Braves make final decision on club option for C Travis d'Arnaud: report

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Monday that the Atlanta Braves planned to exercise their club option on designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. But they won't do the same with catcher Travis d'Arnaud.

Justin Toscano of the AJC confirmed Heyman's report on Monday that the Braves had exercised Ozuna's club option. But Toscano also reported that the Braves declined d'Arnaud's option.

He added that the Braves also declined their club option for relief pitcher Luke Jackson.

Atlanta's decision not to bring d'Arnaud back is somewhat surprising. He slashed .238/.302/.436 with 15 home runs, 48 ​​RBI and 40 runs batted in in 99 games.

d'Arnaud was a more important part of the Atlanta lineup in 2024 than expected as fellow catcher Sean Murphy struggled with an oblique injury through the first two months of the season. When Murphy returned, he also struggled, leaving the door open for d'Arnaud to get more than 300 at-bats.

But in February d'Arnaud will be 36 years old. His club option for 2025 was worth $8 million, which is typically more than what MLB teams pay platoon catchers his age.

Murphy will make $15 million in the 2025 season. Unless the Braves trade Murphy this offseason, it would be hard to justify spending another $8 million on the catcher with d'Arnaud. And the Braves weren't about to let Murphy plan to make d'Arnaud their everyday catcher.

After a disappointing 2024 season, Murphy may not be worth much on the trade market. He will play only the second season of a six-year contract in 2025.

But Murphy was an All-Star just a summer ago. The Braves' best plan with the 29-year-old is to hope he bounces back with a strong and healthy 2025 season.

That doesn't mean the Braves won't add another catcher to push Murphy for the starting role. MLB.com's Mark Bowman argued that catcher could still be d'Arnaud. But it would have to be for significantly less than $8 million.

In five seasons with the Braves, d'Arnaud posted a .251 batting average with a .755 OPS, 60 home runs and 207 RBI in 384 games. In 2022, he made the National League All-Star team with a .268 average, 18 home runs, 60 RBI and 61 runs scored in 426 at-bats.

He also won the NL Catcher Silver Slugger Award with the Braves during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

In addition to d'Arnaud's option, the Braves declined Jackson's club option on Monday. Jackson posted a 4.50 ERA with a 1.556 WHIP in 16 relief appearances for Atlanta after the trade deadline.

His club option was worth $7 million.